Left 4 Red
by Hydrocity3
Summary: This is a sequel to Believe in Me. It takes place a few months after the events of the first story.


"Ai-chan…!"

"Hmm…" IF turned around upon suddenly hearing a familiar voice. "Red-ch… Oww!" The brunette was suddenly on the ground with a familiar red-haired girl sitting on top of her.

"Ai-chan…! Let's go out on a date tonight!" Red exclaimed.

"Red-chan!? Why did you suddenly tackle me for…!?" IF stared into the young redhead's eyes. "And what was that about a date…?"

"Lowee is holding a festival tonight, so I was thinking of taking my #1 wifey to it." Red casually responded.

"Festival…? I remember Compa saying something about that earlier today. Could you be referring to the magical festival Lowee holds every year?" IF asked.

"As expected of my #1 wifey, you already knew about it. So, would you like to go with me?" Red asked again.

"Well…" IF considered the redhead's request. _"It is only held once year, so if I say no… I won't get another opportunity to go till next year."_ The brunette smiled. "Ok, I'll go with you Red-chan."

Hearts formed in the young redhead's eyes as she pumped her fist in the air. "Yay…! Ai-chan agreed to go out with me!"

A sweat drop formed on IF's forehead. "Um… Red-chan? I don't mean to rain on your parade, but can you get off me now?"

Back in IF's hotel room… "It's been a while since I've worn a yukata." The brunette had just finished putting on her navy blue yukata and was now checking herself in a full body mirror to see how she looked. "Not bad if I do say so myself, now then… Compa left a note saying that she went to the festival with Nep, so I guess it really is just Red-chan and I then."

"Ai-chan…!"

"Right on cue…" IF sighed.

The door to her hotel room swung wide open. "Is my #1 wifey ready to go on the best date of her life?"

IF turned her attention towards her date for this evening. "Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"Since I'm the one who asked you out, it's my responsibility to show you a good time. And I always show my wifeys a good time." Red replied.

"I see…, shall we get going then?" IF suggested.

Without another word, Red walked up to the brunette and held out her hand.

IF smiled at the gesture. _"She really is trying her best."_

At the main event…, IF and Red had just arrived. The pair was standing at the entrance to the festival. Seemingly they walked the whole way there holding hands and continued to do so.

"Amazing…" The brunette was at a loss for words.

"The entire country comes to participate in the festival and it always gets bigger and bigger every year." Red stated.

"I had no idea it was such an important event…" IF responded looking at how big the crowd of people was. It really was like the entire country was in this one location.

"It looks like the festival has just started." Red playfully tugged on the guild member's arm. "Let's go Ai-chan."

IF nodded and followed her date through the entrance.

There were an endless line of stalls for different kinds of food, games, and anything else a person can think of. Every business big and small had setup they're own stall for tonight's festivities. As they were walking, one of the stalls had caught Red's eye. "Wait here a moment Ai-chan."

"Red-chan…! Where are you going…!?" IF yelled, but it was too late. The redhead was gone in a flash disappearing into the flow of crowd. "Why was she in such a rush for…?"

Just as the brunette was wondering what to do next, Red had returned carrying something in her hands. "I managed… to get… the last two…" She said in between breaths.

IF deduced that Red had run full sprint to one of the stalls and then had ran full sprint back to where she left. "And what exactly did you get?" She asked crossing her arms.

"This…!" Red pulled out what looked like an ordinary pudding cup out of the bag she was carrying. "This wiggly squiggly gelatin thing is really popular and usually sells out within the first few minutes of the festival. It's rare that they'd even have any more in stock by this time."

"That looks familiar." IF took a closer look at the pudding cup. "Is that the blanc manger made with white peaches that's only made by the top bakery in Lowee?"

"Yeah, blanc…"

"Blancmanger…" IF repeated.

"What you said, anyway this is yours…" Red handed her one of the famous desserts. "…and here's mine. Well then… Agump!"

"You… ate it all in one bite… again…" IF gasped.

Red tilted her head to the side. "Hm…? Again…?"

A sweat drop formed on the brunette's forehead. "Did you perhaps… forget…?"

"Aren't you going to eat yours?" Red asked.

"Agump!" IF ate her dessert in one bite. _"I ate it in one bite without thinking. I at least wanted to savor the taste…"_ She internally cried to herself.

"Shall we get going? There are still plenty more games to play and plenty more delicious food to eat." Red stated.

"Yeah…" IF took her date's hand and strolled down the street stopping at every stall that piqued their interest along the way.

"Step right up! Test your strength! Who among you is strong enough to reach the top?" The stall operator announced to the passing crowd in an attempt to get a challenger.

"That's one of those high strikers. I didn't expect to see one of those here." IF stated not noticing the young redhead wasn't beside her anymore.

"I'll give it a try!" Red volunteered.

"When did you get over there!?" IF shouted.

Red pulled out a hammer seemingly out of nowhere and raised it above her head. "1… 2…" She swung the hammer down with all her might.

***Bang!***

The puck had traveled all the way up the tower and hit the bell.

***Thud!***

"Yay! Ai-chan! Did you see that? I won!" Red exclaimed.

IF put her hand on her hip and smiled.

Meanwhile, the stall operator's jaw was on the floor. "Um… congratulations! Here's your prize."

Red was handed a giant stuffed toy which she immediately placed in her inventory. Just as she finished with that game, another stall caught her interest. "Ai-chan! Look over there! It's that crepe place."

"So it is… shall we go get some?" IF suggested not noticing the young redhead disappeared again.

"Mister, I'd like a lychee and dragonfruit crepe." Red ordered.

"Coming right up!"

"How does she do that and what's with her weird choice in crepe toppings!?" IF shouted.

"Ai-chan…! Aren't you coming!?" Red yelled from across the street.

IF decided to let the point go. "I'll be right there!"

The night continued on with the pair eating and playing games at the various stalls available. Having had their fill of excitement, they sat down on one of the many benches and relaxed. Red and IF was sharing a bag of cotton candy they purchased from a nearby stall when…

"THIS GAME'S WINNER IS… KIRBY!"

"What was that?" IF asked looking around for the source of the voice.

"So that's still going on huh?"

IF turned her attention to her date. "You know what that was Red-chan?"

"That's Lowee's annual fighting tournament." Red pointed to a big stadium off in the distance. "Every year during the festival, Lowee holds a fighting tournament where the strongest fighters in the country participate. I think they changed it this year to where fighters from the other three nations can participate as well."

"That sounds amazing…"

"It's actually one of the main reasons people come to this festival in the first place. The only downside is because it takes place during the festival, there isn't much time for anything else."

"THIS CONCLUDES THE SEMIFINALS!"

"I'm surprised we can still hear the announcer even though we're so far away from the stadium." IF stated.

After finishing off the last of the cotton candy, Red stood up. "It's about to start soon. We should hurry up."

The brunette cocked her head to the side. "Start soon…? Is something going to happen?"

"No festival is complete without a fireworks show. Come on Ai-chan, I know the perfect place we can view them." Red stated.

IF followed Red to a place seemingly only she knew about. The pair walked farther and farther away from the stadium till they couldn't hear the announcer anymore. Before the guild member knew it, she was on a hill with the young redhead overlooking the entire festival including the stadium.

"We're here. This is the best place in Lowee to view the fireworks and that brings us to the last event of the night. It's Red's Pop Quiz Time!" Red exclaimed.

IF felt uneasy upon hearing the statement. "Another pop quiz, huh…?"

"Don't worry." Red winked. "This quiz should be a piece of cake for my #1 wifey. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be I suppose…"

"Then let's get started! First question! Did you enjoy our date together?" Red asked.

"I don't like to admit it, but I did enjoy myself much more than I thought I would… minus the whole tackling me out of nowhere part." IF replied.

"I see… I'll take that into consideration when I plan our future dates together. Second question! Who did Red recently confess her love too?" Red asked.

The brunette was still stuck on the first part of the statement. "Future dates…? You're already thinking that far ahead?"

"You have five seconds left to answer!" Red exclaimed.

"Is that a trick question?" IF asked with a look of confusion. "You wouldn't happen to be referring to the time you saved me from those giant statues?"

"Sorry Ai-chan! The host can't give you any hints. That would be against the rules." Red warned.

"Fine, I get it. The answer is myself, IF."

"Ding! Ding! Ding! You're right! I confessed my love to a girl named IF. Now for the 3rd and final question!" A bright light emanated from Red's body blinding IF. Where Red used to be was now a beautiful red-colored CPU.

"Um… Red-chan?" IF paused for a moment before continuing. "Why did you just suddenly transform?"

"So that I could ask this…" Red Heart stared deep into the brunette's leaf green eyes. "How does my wife feel about me now?"

In that moment, IF's heart skipped a beat.

***Boom!***

The fireworks show was starting.

The brunette could feel her cheeks getting flushed as she stared back into the scarlet-haired goddess's deep gray eyes. _"This is bad! The longer I take, the harder it will be to answer her."_

***Boom!* *Boom!***

Multiple fireworks started to light up the night sky with a multitude of colors.

"_I need to answer her honestly."_ IF took a deep breath to calm herself before answering. "Red-chan… I…"

***Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!***

Meanwhile…

"THE WINNER OF LOWEE'S ANNUAL FIGHTING TOURNAMENT AND THIS YEAR'S GRAND CHAMPION IS PURPLE HEART!"

Apparently Neptune entered this year's tournament and won.

Vert and Noire entered as well, but weren't so fortunate. Vert was knocked out in the quarter finals by a woman clad in space armor and Noire was knocked out in the semi-finals by an 8-inch pink puffball. Needless to say, they were both disappointed with themselves.

Compa was cheering her party members on from the stands.

Lastly, Blanc was overseeing the tournament as she does every year.

The purple-haired goddess was flying through the air doing a victory pose just above the stadium when something caught her eye. _"Is that IF?"_ The scene that unfolded before Neptune's eyes was her party member getting intimate with a scarlet-haired mystery woman. _"Wait till everyone gets a load of this."_


End file.
